High in carbohydrates, saturated fats and cholesterol!!! What a freaking Calorie Bomb! Well....In spite the fact, that Bo Lo Baau is always loved and enjoyed by many many Chinese. It is known in Cantonese as BO LO BAAU, in which "BO LO" means "pineapple", and "BAAU" refers to bun, either with or without stuffing. The pineapple bun contains no pinepple at all, it's a sweet bun topped with a sugary checked crust.

Dough

Topping

250 g Bread flour

20 g Milk powder

120 ml 3.5% Milk, warm

30 g Honey

3-4 g Instant dry yeast

1/2 Egg

Pinch of salt

15 g Butter

150 g Poppy paste

3 tbsp Castor sugar

0.5 g Baking ammonia

0.5 g Baking soda

80 g All-purpose flour

2 tsp Milk powder

55 g Shortening

2 tsp Egg, beaten

A few drops of pale lemon colouring

Dissolve sugar with warm milk in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle dry yeast over and let proof for about 10 minutes. Add in bread flour and egg. Stir at low speed until a rough dough ball formed. Stir in salt and butter until evenly dispersed. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until a soft and elastic dough has formed. The dough should pass the windowpane test. (stretching the dough to see if it thins out).

Turn onto floured surface and knead briefly, then form into a dough ball. Place it in lightly greased bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and place the whole container in a warm bath (35C/95F) 45 minutes, until nearly double in size. Coat one of your fingers with flour, then press it gently into the center of risen dough to the bottom. If the indentation remains, the dough is ready. Punch down the dough and divide into 9 equal pieces, roll each piece into a ball. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Flatten each dough, with the seam side down. Turn and wrap in poppy fillings. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise for about 35 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
At the meantime, combine together sugar, baking ammonia and baking soda in a bowl.

Sift in the flour and milk powder. Add in the rest of ingredients and mix till all incorporated. On a plastic wrap, flatten each pineapple topping to round, about the size of each dough bun. Place them on the dough bun and lightly score with a toothpick to create checked surface, which resembles a pineapple. Brush on egg wash and bake at 200C/400F for about 16 minutes on middle rack.

Angie - this is my Mum's ABSOLUTE favourite dessert at yum cha. I have bookmarked it - I am going to try it soon. THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing the recipe. I have always wanted to know how to make that topping.

Love your new post... I have always wanted to try this recipe - especially seeing them in the Asian bakeries in NYC. Do you have a recipe for the creamy eggy filling for these buns? I love the crust on tour polo buns - beauties!Thanks again and Happy baking!LeeYongrolfmester@yahoo.com

Angie, this is unheard of. I've never really heard of anything like this. It does remind me of something that I've eaten in the PHilippines though. I can already feel the texture in my mouth. AHHHHH gosh! Please can I have some!

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